Angels and Dimensions
by Croliss
Summary: It's been three years since the events of Miranda, and the crew of the Firefly class ship, Serenity, are attempting to lay low on the furthest edges of the 'verse. Food and fuel are running low and they are hoping that answering a distress call will yield some much needed supplies. Instead they find themselves lost in a world long past and a madman in a blue box.
1. Chapter 1

**I**

**Londonium planet colony Roanoke **

**Year 2567**

"So, do you believe the story the defense council told the parliament about what happened here?" Commander Joshua Rehnquist asked. Captain James Tresher stroked his white beard, not taking his eyes off of the cargo bay, watching the crew load and secure crate after crate of valuables and supplies. "It is not our place to question, Commander. It is only to do as we are required for the good of the Alliance."

The commander's question, however, was exactly what was racking Captain Tresher's mind. How did an entire, organized colony of 60,000, simply disappear? There was no sign of struggle or terrorism. There was absolutely no evidence that Dust Devils attacked the colony, as was the explanation given by the council. Everything was left in place as though the colonists simply vanished with no trace. Baskets of crop were dropped, cooking appliances remained on and burning the dinner that was being prepared. There was no blood or ash, not a brick on any building was disturbed. This was certainly not the work of a terrorist group like the Dust Devils. There was something more sinister that played out. A chill worked up Tresher's spine.

"Captain?" Commander Rehnquist looked to the captain with concern.

"I'm fine, Commander. Just a draft coming in is all."

The captain turned and faced Commander Rehnquist. He was a fresh faced man. Black beard and hair, a posture of a true leader. Captain Thresher would not have picked a better man to take his place as captain of his A.G.S. Zhang Sanfeng. "Commander, I am quite versed in the Middle Age history of Earth. This is no the first time that this has occurred, and it likely will not be the last. However, while you may keep the doubt in your mind, you must act accordingly if you wish to take over my ship."

Rehnquist chuckled "It is not my ship yet, Captain. We still have a long journey home."

"After 50 years, a couple of days is far from a long journey, Commander. I am just thankful I know she will be in good hands while I am tending in my garden."

"I will be sure to keep her safe and clean, Captain." Commander Rehnquist said with a smile.

"Ah, be sure you do. I will be most displeased if I found out you dented her. And make sure you bring her back into port before curfew." Captain Tresher cracked a wry smirk. He was feeling his age, he may as well play the part. He was right to do so as well. The Zhang has been his "retirement" ship for the past decade. He was reluctant to let her go, but knew that he had to eventually and move on past his service.

A young man, couldn't be more than fifteen, raced up to the two and stopped abruptly, barely avoiding a collision with the two men. He awkwardly regained his composure and saluted nervously. "Captain, sir, Admiral Cho is hailing us. He wishes to speak to you in private." Tresher turned to the boy and nodded "Aye, thank you, Ensign. I will take the call in my quarters."

"Aye, sir!" The young man saluted again, and hurried off. Tresher chuckled and shook his head. "You know, Commander, I remember my first time on a ship. I couldn't have been much older than him. I am happy that, unlike I, he will have time to grow into his role." Rehnquist nodded. "A great man was forged in the fire, Captain."

"Serenity Valley was no fire, Commander. It was a massacre. A bittersweet victory. I would be lying if I said I could forget that day, or forgive myself for my role in it." Tresher heaved a sigh.

"Captain?"

Tresher held up a hand "Commander, may your Pax Londonium continue through out your service. War is unforgiving to the soul." Rehnquist understood that when the Captain held his hand up in such a manner, it was time to drop the subject.

"Peace be with you, Captain." Rehnquist said, saluting.

"And with you as well, my dear comrade." Tresher replied, saluting back. "You have the bridge until I return." Both men dropped their salutes.

"Aye, Captain." Rehnquist turned on his heel and walked towards the lift to return to the bridge. Captain Tresher let out a slow breath, looked around quickly and rubbed a stubborn tear from his eye, and proceeded to his quarters in a lift on the other side of the mezzanine.

As Tresher exited the lift and proceeded through the quarters hall he was greeted by smiling faces, both wearing civilian clothing and the gray uniform. He postured himself the way a commanding officer should, but kept a softness about him that made him approachable to all. These people were not just his crew and their families, but a family of his own. He had taken control of this ship many years ago, when the Defense Council deemed him nearing retirement. He did not take offense. It was better than sitting behind a desk as an admiral. The stars were where he belonged, and it was the reason he joined the Alliance Navy in the first place. Tresher arrived at his quarters, commanded the door to open, and the lock, recognizing his voice imprint, disengaged and allowed him entry.

The quarters were small for that of a Captain, but Tresher preferred it that way. It was cozy to him, and was simple to keep tidy. As the door closed behind him, he proceeded to the data screen at the far end of the room, positioned on a desk that overlooked the stars. A point of structural weakness as far as any other captain would consider, and a poor choice for a desk to do logs and business. Tresher was not concerned, however, as he considered simply staring at a blank wall to be more dangerous and maddening than the slight risk he may suffer had the window failed in an unlikely attack. He sat himself down, feeling his age and letting out a groan as he did, and tapped on the virtual controller to bring up the Alliance log in screen. A few more keystrokes popped up Admiral Cho, an elderly man, but one who went through the Civil War without losing his youthful spirit somehow.

"Admiral, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Ni hao, James. I was merely looking for an ETA. I have a few drinks to purchase you in celebration of your service." Tresher chuckled, "I appreciate that, Xing, old friend. We are looking a two, maybe three days. We are almost ready to start heading back on my last trip in the old girl." At that time, Tresher heard the engines start up and the ship begin to lift. "Or sooner it would seem."

"Wonderful. You do understand I will not be able to drink with you, since I am not mad enough to return to civilian life. However, this will make it easier to attempt to push Admiralty on you."

"Tresher chuckled, "You been attempting to push that desk job on me for the past decade, Xing. You will not break me, drink or not. I would go mad behind a desk and you know this."

"Ah, you cannot blame one for trying to keep a great man on the roster. Besides when you go civilian, how can I continue decimating you at chess?"

Tresher laughed, "You will find some other so gwaa, I assure you. We come by the dozens in this work. However I will let you win one last game against me when I get back."

The two continued to exchange pleasantries and chortles. Tresher and Cho were shipmates during the Unification War, and became fast friends. Cho was one of the few people that Tresher could share his doubts and horrors of that time with, and Cho would always smile and help to bring Tresher back up out of the rabbit hole. Tresher assumed that Cho was just as affected, but was able to shuffle the memories away more effectively than he. That or Xing Cho was just a raving looney, but either way, that did not change Treshers affections for his friend.

Admiral Cho smile was lost soon after bright flash of light, to a black screen with the words "signal lost flashing in the center. The lights in the captains quarters flickered briefly and the sound of the engine could be heard powering down. They had come to a full stop. Tresher attempted to call the Admiral back, however to no avail. As a matter of fact the only channels he was able to acquire a signal was the bridge, showing the crew feverishly working in a state of utter confusion. "Commander Rehnquist, report."

"We have run into a problem, sir. We have lost all power to our engines, and we seem to be lost. Very lost." This stunned the old captain. This ship was top of the line and its navigation was almost infallible.

"Do you have any information on where we are?"

"None, sir. The coordinates that navigation is insisting we are at does not match up with our starmaps." It was at that point Tresher looked up from his data screen and saw constellations he had no familiarity with. The stars were his home, this was certainly not the home he knew.

"This can't be possible."

"Sir?"

"We are in a portion of the universe that would take over a year to get at the speed we were traveling."

"Sir, your orders? "

"Keep working on it, Commander. Try to send out an emergency hail to anyone that may be in earshot. I will return to the bridge shortly."

"Aye, sir!" Rehnquist replied, and the screen went black. Tresher leaned back in his chair, watching the strange sights he had never seen before float before him.


	2. Chapter 2

**II**

**Year 2521**

"Three gorram years, Mal!" Jayne's large palm came crashing down on the table, causing Simon to make a very hasty, and unsuccessful attempt to save his drink as half the contents ended up on his shirt sleeve, the rest on the floor. Kaylee giggled and assisted Simon with the clean up. Mal sternly looked to Jayne while moving his own glass to safer territory. "While we are all impressed with your new found math ability, Jayne, I think we'd be appreciative if you didn't assault our dinner showin' it off."

Jayne continued his tirade "You know gorram well what I'm talkin' 'bout. We've been floatin' round on the skirts of the 'verse for three years! Jobs are scarce, and when jobs are scarce, money is scarce, and when money's scarce..." Jayne picked up his plate of nondescript greens and grains as evidence of his dilemma. "We gotta settle for this gǒupì! Man like me needs meat every once an' a while!"

"Or else you get a might cranky?" Mal quipped

"Gorram right!" Jayne responded.

"For what it's worth I haven't really seen much difference." Simon stated factual, rolling up his sleeves to contain the last of the moisture from his glass. Jayne glared at Simon. "Keep talkin', Doc. You'll be the first on my plate!"

"Settle it, Jayne! You know well, why we all've been roundin' 'bout the 'verse, Jayne. That mix up at Miranda really put us out there. We need to lay low for a while. Ain't many jobs for celebrity folk with pictures up in ever sector." Mal set his glass back down on the table and quickly grabbed Jayne's hand, stopping him in mid swing as he attempted to smack the table again. "Jayne," Mal said cooly, "I. Said. Settle. Simmer it down." Jayne gritted his teeth and scowled hard at Mal before tossing his chair to the side and storming off, only briefly returning to scowl again, grab his plate, and walk out of the mess.

"He does have a point, cap'n, much as I hate ta say it." Kaylee chimed in, poking at her food. "Food is one thing though, the engine needs some parts changed out and we ain't got the supplies to do it."

"We'll hopefully run across something soon, Kaylee. For now keep her running best you can. If River's hunch on a distress beacon is right, we may have both meat and parts soon."

"Where are we going anyway? I think this is the farthest out that we've ever gone?" Simon said.

"Alpha region. Way outside of Alliance interests, which is one reason I agreed to check this beacon out. Someone else got stuck out here, and if we show up in time, they'd be obliged to offer up some gratitude. We arrive too late, an' we may have a decent salvage. Win win."

"Awfully morbid way of looking at it."

"My concerns don't expand much past this ship, doctor. Long's they're payin' us, or leavin' us bee, I ain't much interested."

"Captain?" Zoe's voice sounded over the intercom.

"We find the source, Zoe?"

"Yes, sir. It's a ghost. No life signs anywhere on the ship but a good amount of energy coming from it. Looks like a freighter. Strange one too. I've never seen a model like this" Zoe's voice tinned out through the speaker. "Ah, see?" Mal pasted on a smile to Simon. "Salvage."

"Alliance." River mumbled over the speaker. Mal's smile dropped into confusion. "Me me, you sure?"

"Yes. Symbol. On the side of the ship. Alliance."

"Alliance shouldn't be this far out from home. I'm on my way to the bridge." Mal looked to Kaylee. "Sorry to cut dinner short. Make sure the airlock is fit for docking."

Kaylee nodded, "Right, cap'n." She was more than happy to be pulled away from the odd dish anyway.

Back on the bridge, River was fixated on the screen in front of her. "Strange feeling. Very strange. Don't know what it is."

"What is it, me me?" Zoe asked her calmly. "What's so strange about it?"

"Don't know. Just...strange."

"You mean the ship?"

"No. What's on it."

Zoe stepped back and gave River a bit of space. She wasn't looking like she was going into freak out mode, but wanted to make sure she had a bit of distance in case she did.

"Everything alright, Zoe?" Mal asked as he walked onto the bridge.

"River seems quite focused on the ship. She keeps saying that there's something strange aboard."

"I thought you said there were no life signs." Mal said.

"Not alive...or dead. Just...strange." River said.

Mal attempted to get a better look at the ship on the screen and sure enough, it was an Alliance freighter. Minimal weaponry visible, familiar serial number on the side below the Alliance symbol was that of a cargo or freight vehicle. It looked like it had taken a beating too. Holes throughout, damage, debris floating about it at quite a distance. It looked like it was lost out in this area for a very long time.

"Any computing activity on board?" Mal asked Zoe

"Just the distress beacon as far as we can tell. Otherwise the ship has no power whatsoever. We'll have to keep our suits on if we want to board it. Vital support is likely off line."

"Alright, I'll try to get Jayne to stop pouting long enough to put on a suit, you grab one as well. River, take us as close to the ship as you can so we can deploy the grappling."

"Lutece?" River said cocking her head as if trying to hear something better.

"What?" Mal asked.

"That's what the ship said." River replied. Mal looked at her confused but filed the questions in the back of his mind for later. It wasn't necessarily the first strange thing that River had said before, but he knew better than to just disregard it.

"We'll hash that out later. Right now we got a ship in need of supplies, and a grouchy merc who needs feedin'. Quicker we get in, quicker we can get loaded with what we can and get out."

"Captain, are you sure this is a good idea?" Zoe asked.

"Ain't got much choice. I'm not sure we're gonna have enough fuel and supplies to take us back towards more familiar area." Mal said. Zoe nodded "Aye, sir." Then went to put on her suit. Mal looked back at River, still wondering and a bit concerned about her state of mind. "You keen, me me?" he asked.

"Keen..." River replied unsteadily as she slowly directed the Serenity towards the wreckage. Something was making her very uneasy, but she was still holding steady and it wasn't effecting her flying at all. Mal walked out of the bridge to prepare for boarding.

"Don't blink..." River muttered.


End file.
